Fire Support in Low Intensity Conflict Is Current Doctrine Adequate

This monograph examines the adequacy of current fire support command and control doctrine for the employment of U.S. forces in a low intensity conflict (LIC) environment. Current Army doctrine establishes the fire support coordinator (FSCOORD) provided by the field artillery as the principle point of contact for the integration and synchronization of fire support into the scheme of maneuver of the force commander. Recognizing the commitment of U.S. forces in LIC is likely to be a joint operation involving a brigade size task force including its direct support field artillery battalion, the FSCOORD must have doctrine available which is adequate to meet the special demands of a LIC environment. The monograph first reviews current LIC doctrine applicable to fire support considerations and provides an overview of current field artillery responsibilities. It then examines fire support lessons learned from the French Indo China war, U.S. forces in Vietnam, U.S. forces in Grenada, and from observations of recent training rotations at the Joint Readiness Training Center. Recurring problems are discussed as they compare or contrast with existing fire support doctrine, revealing several inadequacies in both doctrine and training. The most significant inadequacies in doctrine are found in command and control of fire support coordination. The most significant training inadequacies are found in the area of survivability.